Of Mysteries and Thievery
by Rye Mellark
Summary: Two files were all it took for Kaito to find himself closer to destroying Pandora once and for all. Two files were all it took for his life to be thrown into deeper peril than it had already been in. Two files were all it took for him to find out that he, Kaitou Kid, and Shinichi, the Great Detective of the East, shared a bond they never even knew they had: the one of brotherhood.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** All characters from Meitantei/Detective Conan and Magic Kaito are the intellectual properties of sir Gosho Aoyama.

**Author's Notes:** This would be my first attempt at writing a work of fiction involving Detective Conan and Magic Kaito rolled into one.

As this narrative is set in an alternate universe setting, I will have to tell you that several things will be changed from canon: Pandora's immortality is explainable through science, Akako doesn't participate in the arcane and whatnot.

For me, in order for MK to mesh into the DC canon more closely, I had to strip off the fantasy elements from it and turn it into something fleshed out in facts and science.

** I have based the modular software described in this chapter from the infamous _**Flame**_ virus which was used to sieve off confidential information from Middle Eastern countries.

** Knowing about telomeres and their role in aging was just something I've studied in 1st Year Biology in university.

With that aside, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Your reviews would be highly appreciated guys.

**PS:** It would be also nice if you guys could try and attempt to solve Kaitou Kid's riddle and tell me what type of gems Pandora consists of, what date and what time the heist would occur.

* * *

Of Mysteries and Thievery

Chapter 1

_ By birth, the Ox in the pasture and the Tsar of Liberation were destined to meet. The unripe fruit basks in the sun but the pit bleeds scarlet under the evening sky. When the Twins first come out to play, I will make my move. For when the hour strikes that the second precedes the first and the image in the looking glass flashes a nickel and a dime, I will come and lay claim on the forbidden fruit from within the citadel of tyrants._

_-Kaitou Kid_

* * *

Setting a pen aside as the finishing strokes of his alter ego's insignia were carefully laid down on paper, Kaito had to wonder if he'd gone _too_ far with this latest riddle.

The heist notice in question was—for most parts—similar to the previous ones. It consisted of flowery prose vague and convoluted enough to be deemed nonsensical by those uninclined to do a bit of legwork themselves. Those who _were_ drawn to such mysteries presented by his previous exploits—namely Inspector Nakamori and Hakuba—would attempt to solve it, get halfway there then find themselves flummoxed and halted in their tracks.

Only one person would eventually stitch the strings of words together into a meaningful construct. However, going by the amount of information he'd just uncovered yesterday, he couldn't afford to explicitly reveal the identity of his target. Not to him. Certainly not to _them_.

Much as he would've loved to spar with a certain chibi-tantei, he wasn't just going to give the jewel's name away _that_ easily and allow the other boy the satisfaction of thwarting this upcoming heist as he skilfully did so time and again in the past. There were just too many things at stake if he encountered even a single hitch during this one. With _them_ having attempted to assassinate him several times now, self-preservation was finally on Kaito's top priorities.

In a sense, he penned this particular manifesto with the intent of letting _them_ know _he_ held the royal flush this time around. He was going to crush the sole purpose of their organisation's existence without _them_ being able to do anything in order to stop him. Not _this_ time. Justice will be served and the world will be rid of such vile people willing to callously kill others for the sake of attaining life eternal.

Call his actions uncouth as much as you like, but the adolescent thief had his reasons. After pulling off heist upon heist, Kaito began to concede of his helpless and reluctant disposition against the mantle forced onto his shoulders. He saw himself powerless; alone in the fight against the organisation which took away his father's life.

None of his targets so far had been that accursed gem. What he'd been looking for was as elusive as ever. It remained out of his reach; taunting, jeering him and his efforts. And seemingly just to spite him further, it kept him at bay from gaining back the normalcy he so much desired and longed for dearly.

He'd become a prisoner of his father's past; blindly following the footpath laid down before him due to the initial, alluring thrill it provided. But as time wore on, he unwillingly took on the form of the silent and forlorn outcast. He'd had to keep up all his sorrows and frustrations all to himself. He was unable to share his burden with anyone else in fear of getting caught; afraid of hurting the ones he truly loved the most. And much as he would've denied it, he was terrified of the prospect of losing _her_ because of the sins he'd had to commit against the law.

For the longest time, he had to suppress the emotion of unbelief eating away at him. His father's death _should've_ given enough gravity to fuel Kaito's cause. Nonetheless, uncovering the circumstances behind his father's murder ultimately led him to look for immortality in the form of some liquid which just so happened to be conveniently sealed away in a crystal doublet. The notion in and of itself was ludicrous. It went against every logical and scientific knowledge the youth had accumulated throughout his life. Goodness, even magic was founded on techniques involving sleight-of-hand, deception and utilising the mind's ways of tricking itself into seeing what it wanted to see!

Two of his most recent findings, however, proved to be most interesting to say the least. They served as the missing pieces to the puzzle which fell into place and provided the means for Kaito's resolve to crystallise out of a sea of doubt.

* * *

Yesterday, as he'd been sifting through countless pages of returned search results containing the terms _immortality_ and _crystal_, Kaito almost overlooked two incriminating documents lying around in cyberspace if he hadn't been alerted by the sophisticated algorithms enclosed in a software package Jii had managed to procure for him within this week. As good as a hacker Kaito might've been, the teenager had to acknowledge his lack of expertise in coding a constantly adapting program that he needed; one which was suited to filter out inconsistencies and anomalies throughout the internet without getting itself compromised during the process.

Even as a red flag was beginning to be raised in his mind, Kaito hadn't allowed himself to jump into any conclusions regarding the files and where they were being hosted. There were too many variables he still had to take into account before reaching a definitive answer.

Being of suspicious nature alone couldn't have cut it anymore given that around this day and age, it was not uncommon to find documents and websites hosted on servers protected by some form of security. With government agencies and the like, it even became a standard protocol for servers to be fortified enough to fend off potential malicious software acting as espionage tools by belligerent governments or terrorist groups.

That being said, he realised this specific server wasn't directly accessible through legal means. Nor was it government owned.

The IP address constantly changed at a highly erratic interval; initially leading him to believe that an IP scrambler was used to do the trick. If not for the fact that Kaito was using a customised search engine, the files' host would have remained untraceable. Based on the analyses provided by the 'loaned' program at Kaito's disposal, however, this was—in actuality—the doings of a complicated network of proxies intricately branching out and looping amongst themselves; infinitely redirecting anyone who tried to gain unwanted access to the server it cocooned through direct means.

Adding to the increasing deck of evidence, there was neither a domain name nor a web address of any sorts attached to the server. It was connected to the web without truly getting entangled in the hustle of its activities. Duly noted, this was something that further caught his eye, much like the glimmer of a misplaced mirror refracting light in the middle of a novice magician's performance.

As Kaito had observed, scientific foundations, especially the ones involved in some form of biological based research would have had websites stating their nature and intentions. With petty egos to stroke and reputations at stake, most—if not, all—of these groups would have ensured their achievements and endeavours were inducted into the minds of the wider community to garner their ardently desired accolades.

It had taken some time before it became wholly apparent to Kaito that, unlike these organisations, utter anonymity must have been a main concern to whoever owned this server. Such was the motive and precise nature behind it that one possibility rang true for him above all else. Whatever information those two files contained about immortality were acquired through illicit means. And by illicit, the dark-haired youth was inferring that serious ethical barriers had been breached.

Judging by the file size of the documents alone, it would've been safe to assume that a fair amount of data was stored in each one. If this was the case, then a great deal of research would've been undertaken to gather such data. Funding was synonymous with research and meant that this group had to find a way to gain it while remaining completely anonymous.

From the meagre clues Kaito had gathered, it couldn't have been _them_. The modes by which _they_ work were rudimentary and out in the open.

Whether it was an individual or an organisation, there was no doubt that someone _else_ was searching for a way to obtain immortality. A mark of subtlety and planning was written over everything related to this other entity.

Nevertheless, subtlety only went so far to hide one's tracks. To have been under the radar of the program employed by Japan's Public Security Intelligence Agency—the same one Kaito had been using—was a harrowing testament to their far-reaching influence. If they did not have some of their own people stationed within the agency, there was no way they could have kept their server under wraps for such a length of time. With realisation dawning on him, Kaito had to grudgingly wonder, just how deeply entrenched were these people inside the Japanese government.

Having his attention thoroughly piqued, the boy began looking for a way to retrieve those documents. Without missing a beat, his mind had shifted its focus on the task at hand and set to work. Blue depths stared at the screen intently; the teenager's focus constantly shifting from the main program window to the analytical tests running along to its side. His eyebrows were furrowed; his body stock still in concentration.

Though seemingly impregnable, a network of proxies with such a high complexity meant that there was a far higher probability Kaito would encounter a flaw he was able to exploit to weasel his way through. The question was: how could he have approached it without running into the risk of being detected?

_Surely, there must be a way,_ the boy had asked, letting out a sigh marred by slight frustration.

Deep in thought, his eyes flickered ever so slightly as he searched through the recesses of his mind in an attempt to find an answer; even something remotely connected would have served as a starting point.

_Security_, he had thought aloud with a sharp gasp.

One word was all it had taken for Kaito's mind to trace a path along its own neural circuitry; connecting seemingly unrelated mental cues into a surprisingly coherent solution. A faint smile of satisfaction had crossed the adolescent's lip; his eyes bearing discernible glints of mischief and determination in them. Of course! If he'd managed to routinely make his way past Inspector Nakamori and his police squad by donning guises, there was enough of a reason to believe something similar could be achieved in cyberspace.

Now that he had a set goal in mind, it had become easier to envisage the steps he had to undertake to achieve his goal. His fingers began to quickly tap away at the keys of his keyboard with precision and purpose. Quite a few more keystrokes later and he had completely transformed his good, not-so-old, computer into a proxy server that was—according to his 'borrowed' program—in accordance and identical to the ones in the server's main line of defence.

Keeping in mind that he had to infiltrate the server and extricate himself out of it as quickly as possible; Kaito had forced himself to ignore his misgivings and proceeded to integrate his computer into the network with much urgency. After a few punctuated mouse clicks within the 'leased' government security program, he had managed to inactivate one of the proxies with relative ease.

It then came as such a panic for the dark-haired youth when it had taken far longer for his computer to connect to the network under the assumed identity of the temporarily incapacitated proxy.

Kaito's breath had painfully hitched below his throat; a sense of trepidation having tainted his consciousness. Several scenarios began to toy with his already declining composure; each one of them a morbid consequence of being found out by this other syndicate. Fear of the unknown, as it was, had a far greater toll on the teenager's psyche than any fixed terror could have ever presented.

Only when the words 'Connection Successful' had appeared in bold typography as a notification on the computer screen was the boy able to regain his breath back and gather enough of his wits to resume what he had already started.

Navigating through the maze of proxies to reach the actual server would've aroused suspicion and costed him precious time; something which he had very little to start off with. Instead, Kaito had opted to deploy the government-coded modular reconnaissance software in his possession. It had several components to it that enabled it to bypass any security software and allowed unrestricted access to the compromised system for anyone in control of it.

As a consequence, Kaito had managed to trace the location of the host server without the need to venture out and successfully retrieved a copy of both files while remaining completely hidden. Having accomplished what he had set out to do, the adolescent sent a string of command lines to the software. Moments later, the program had self-destruct; leaving no trace of recoverable information that may have been used for forensic testing.

Having disengaged entirely from the server and its primary system of defence, the boy had immediately begun to check the files for any countermeasures the owners had set in place to keep the files from being read. Running it through the 'loaned' program, Kaito had found it quite a pleasant surprise to see how the files were neither booby-trapped nor encrypted.

Perhaps, it was to be expected. The chances of any civilian having a copy of the program used by the country's national agency were truly minute. The probability that that someone was the using the said program to specifically search for anomalous websites related to immortality or a crystal doublet defying scientific and medical limitations was far slimmer.

For such a cautious entity, it seemed that they had either allowed themselves to slip into a false sense of security or had not foreseen such an improbable scenario occurring. Whichever oversight it might have been, copies of the documents were now in the hands of someone else.

With nervous anticipation, Kaito had opened one of the files and began to read it. Poring over the contents, the teenager had soon stumbled upon the discovery that this other organisation was looking for Pandora as well. Unlike him, however, these people had more than just an inkling of what they were looking for. The document contained extensive notes expounding the possible identity of the gem that indirectly took away his father from him.

As it turned out, most of the things he knew about it—which had been already quite meagre—had turned out to be wrong. The teenage magician was truly startled at how much subterfuge and wilfully wrong hearsays this organisation had been spreading in order to mislead _them_ and anyone else who had been trying to find the doublet.

The mechanism for it to be recognised was different from what he had been told or what he had been expecting all this time. Holding the doublet up to the full moon and watching the central jewel magically glow scarlet wouldn't have constituted anything to aid its discovery as nothing would have happened. Such test had been merely one of this other syndicate's many ruses in its web of lies. This didn't necessarily mean that the night wasn't involved in any form however. Rather, it did play a significant role.

Only in the darkness of the evening did anyone truly have a proper reason to use candles as a form of light source. As it was, the incandescence it produced held the key in identifying the gem Kaito was after.

Nonetheless, the common candle's wick and flickering flame had been long exchanged for the luxury offered by electrically sustained fluorescent lamps. Such was the lighting used in modern museums that no one would have detected the colour changing crystal safely encased within another. Using society's open-armed embrace of progress only served to demonstrate the cunning behind this other group and how dangerous of a foe the youth could be potentially facing.

Having Pandora restricted down to three possible candidates was all well and good. It would have meant that his unwanted and unwelcome life of crime would soon come to an end. Respite and the desperately awaited egress to freedom were now knocking at his doorsteps; offering such a beguiling life of peace and relative quiet. There was no need for him to have meddled further with the scientific research included in the document he had been viewing for quite some time. All he had to do was single out Pandora, destroy it and draw the curtains of phantom thief's era to a close.

But being the overly inquisitive person that he was, Kaito couldn't have satiated his mental appetite by just knowing which precious stone he had set out to crush. His intuition was telling him that this other organisation must have a deeper agenda than _they _did. Why go through all the trouble of trying to identify the biochemistry involved in achieving immortality when a person only has to take it once to overcome the inevitable death brought about by senescence?

Having this thought in mind, he'd pressed on reading. Pages upon pages of scientific knowledge detailed what a telomere was and its connection to reaching biological immortality. He'd learnt that telomeres were repetitive nucleotide sequences at the end of chromosomes that acted as buffers and prevented genetic information from being lost in the replication process. As time progressed, however, these protective features end up getting fully consumed and ultimately halt cell division in its tracks.

Although this may have been the case for most cells in the body, certain types of cells were able to continue to divide due to the activation of an enzyme complex collectively referred to as telomerase. The enzyme enabled chromosomes' telomeres to be lengthened—effectively barring the effects of aging indefinitely. Going by the information he had read up to this point, this other organisation believed that the 'elixir' Pandora contained had the properties of circumventing this biological obstacle of telomerase activation being narrowed down to select types of cells.

By the time he had finished reading the first file and looked at his digital clock, the teenager had seen that it was well into the early hours of the morning. As much as he would've wanted to mull over the possible answers to his earlier self-raised question, he still had to study later that day—as it was technically tomorrow already at this point in time.

With the sudden feeling of fatigue washing over him, he'd resigned to turn off his computer and resume what he'd begun after attending school.

Making his way out of the secret room his father had concealed behind a rotating trapdoor disguised as a harmless portrait, Kaito had unceremoniously plopped himself onto the bed without bothering to jump into his usual nightwear of blue and white striped pyjamas. Lying on his stomach, the mechanics of telomere elongation and Pandora were the last things his mind had tried to hold onto before oblivion took over.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** All characters from Meitantei/Detective Conan and Magic Kaito are the intellectual properties of sir Gosho Aoyama.

**Author's Notes: **Hi guys, I'm here to say that I'm not dead yet. I have been merely trying to focus my energy into 2nd Year university and so I have not been able to write anything for this story until today. For that, I'm sorry.

Funnily enough, I've had people add this work of fiction to their favourites list or followed it and for that I'm sincerely grateful. Reviews are always welcome as well, as I would like to hear feedback from you guys.**  
**

As you guys would probably notice, I have moved a certain amount of text found in the 1st chapter into this 2nd chapter as I had originally intended. When I originally posted chapter 1, I had included a sneak peak of chapter 2 without even realising it.

With all those things aside, here's most of the solution to the riddle that was introduced in the first chapter to the story.

**Answer to Kaitou Kid's riddle:**

_By birth, the Ox in the pasture and the Tsar of Liberation were destined to meet._

** The Ox alluded to the Zodiac sign of Taurus which coincides with the the birthstone Emerald. Tsar of Liberation referred to Tsar Alexander II who was known as Alexander the Liberator. The colour changing birthstone of Alexandrite was named after him.

_When the Twins first come out to play, I will make my move. _

_** _The Twins reffered to the Zodiac sign of Gemini. The first day in the duration of Gemini would be May 21st.

_For when the hour strikes that the second precedes the first and the image in the looking glass flashes a nickel and a dime_...

** The part where second precedes the first basically meant what it said.: 2 before 1. 'Flashes' should have indicated the fact that the clock was digital in nature as traditional clocks did not flash numbers. The looking glass meant that the image in it was a reflection of of the hour: 2 before 1 which also meant 21. A nickel and a dime would be equal to 15 cents and hence the time would be: 21:15 which on a digital clock would look symmetrical. On an analogue clock, this would have equated to 9:15 pm.

**PS:** There is a part of this chapter which involved a dialogue which referenced a recent 3D animated film that I have come to cherish as one of my favourites. Can anyone guess which film it is?

* * *

Though he had less than six hours of sleep, Kaito welcomed the morning with an elevated sense of hope that he didn't feel all that much sluggish or weary as he'd expected himself to have been from the long night before. Seeing that he had clearly woken up on time, there was no reason for him to not do the things he had long set aside ever since he had donned the characteristic monocle, pristinely white suite and matching cape. Whether it had been preparations for an upcoming heist or an actual heist itself, the boy had often found himself waking up later than the time he'd set his alarm to go off.

Things were about to change soon and Kaito could almost feel it. Such a conviction had been welling within him that he eagerly prepared himself to go back to the life that had been stolen away from him. It was the life where the enigmatic Phantom Thief, Kaitou Kid, and the teenage magician, Kuroba Kaito, had been two separate identities that didn't inhabit the same body.

The question he'd put forth earlier concerning this other organisation and whatever their plans were of using the alleged jewel of immortality had long been forgotten in the light of his raised spirits.

After having picked himself off of bed, the youth made his way to the bathroom adjoining his living quarters and had quickly stripped off his soiled uniform which now lay in a messy heap on the porcelain flooring. He had then proceeded to enter the shower cubicle and just stood there; allowing the artificial deluge to envelop him fully.

Enjoying the feeling of steaming water against his bare skin, Kaito had been quite surprised to find that warm tears begun to trickle down his cheeks and intermingled with the torrent he had been currently under. He certainly wasn't sad at this particular moment in time, but he'd ended up realising that perhaps, this was his mind subconsciously overriding his thought processes in order to purge out all those years of putting up a brave face—his impish poker face—to conceal his bottled up pain and longing for a father who could no longer be there for him. Whatever the cause truly was, Kaito left the shower with a feeling that a heavy yoke had been finally lifted off from his shoulders.

* * *

Dynamics of relationships surely did change quickly, as Kaito had soon discovered, once his mask of cultivated mischievousness and tomfoolery had been set aside.

The boy's true temperament could finally shine through after years of being kept hidden away from others around him. With his emotions now unguarded, he felt exposed to the world. Regardless of this, however, there was an overwhelming sense of long forgotten freedom that outweighed the unease tugging at him.

The trickster within Kaito still lingered on as one facet that made up his complex personality, albeit, at a far subdued level than before. Years of putting up such a seemingly care-free façade did that to you as the teenager could have vocally attested. But where a feral grin should have been plastered on his young face, in its place was a disarmingly warm and genuine smile. This was the expression the adolescent had chosen to greet his long childhood friend with as he opened the front door to his moderate sized residence.

'Ohayou Aoko,' Kaito greeted with the slightest hint of reservedness; testing the waters out before unveiling more of his reformed disposition.

Perhaps it was the fact that Kaito was miraculously already awake and prepared for school early in the morning combined with the lack of the boy's usual smugness that had caught the auburn-haired girl by surprise. Kaito observed that she merely stood there in front of him, motionless; her mouth parted open to form words that never came out.

'Oi Aoko, daijobu ka,' the boy asked somewhat alarmed by her reaction.

'Hai—' she nodded her head slowly with obvious reluctance in her demeanour.

'Come on now, be honest with me,' Kaito said with half-lidded eyes, extending his left arm to gently place an index finger on the other's forehead, close to where her brows met.

The girl had gone somewhat cross-eyed as her dark blue depths focused on his finger which was now in direct contact with her skin. It certainly would have been considered a funny sight but Kaito couldn't find the humour behind it in his current state. He was busy enough mentally berating himself for putting her under the situation she currently was in.

'You're probably weirded out by the way I'm acting, ne, Aoko?' He withdrew his finger and gave a defeated sigh. Another smile crossed his lips; one that encompassed both wistfulness and apology.

'Gomen ne. I thought you'd be happier to see me like thi—' the adolescent magician began before being abruptly cut-off.

'You don't have to alter anything about yourself to try and please me.' Aoko let her words hang in the air. She immediately lowered her head but not before Kaito had managed to see a blush spreading across her cheeks.

'BaKaito,' she mumbled. It almost seemed like an afterthought.

'But this _is_ the _real_ me, Aoko. It's just that—' the dark-haired youth said before taking a deep breath.

'—ever since oyaji's death, I couldn't bear to see kaasan, you or anyone else close to me become sad. I didn't want all of you to worry about me either so I decided to be strong. Someone had to fit that role. I tried to be that someone who could divert all of your attentions from the reality that oyaji's never going to come back.'

Kaito took another moment to pause; his trembling hand ruffling through already tousled hair. Getting pieces of the truth out in the open was definitely harder than what he'd initially conceived.

'The thing is, I've always intended to make you laugh when you're with me Aoko, but I just ended up hurting your feelings and embarrassing you a lot of the times instead. I've just had about enough of seeing you being teased and annoyed by the jerk I've become.'

'Kaito—' He saw her lifting her head up to lock her eyes with his gaze.

'You know what Aoko? You've got every single right to call me a baka. I mean, what kind of guy could be smart enough but still be able to hurt the only girl that has stolen and now owns his heart entirely?'

With raw emotions having been let loose after so long, Kaito hadn't had the time to think through what he'd just said. His heart had overridden the restraints set up by his mind. Now, he could only stare hopelessly at the girl he had fallen for long ago. Every muscle in his body had tensed up; the adolescent anxiously waiting for a response of some kind.

It didn't take very long until she closed the gap between the two of them. Without a second's notice, slender arms wrapped themselves delicately around his torso. Her head was now nestled against his shoulder, close to where the boy's collarbone was. His muscles relaxed at her touch; even coming to a point where his legs appeared to be too weak to even support his lithe frame.

Acting upon the feelings he'd been harbouring all this time, Kaito placed his head against hers, taking in the scent and smoothness of her hair against his cheek. His arms tenderly enveloped around hers; returning the gesture of embrace.

'Aoko—' he uttered, almost choking on the word.

'—aishiteru yo. I've always had and always will,' the teenage magician managed to say; his voice being barely above a whisper.

'Watashi mo kimi wo aishiteru,' she replied back as just as softly as the boy had spoken out.

Kaito wanted to add something more to what he'd already said but, as luck would have it, nothing came to his mind. All he could concentrate on was this special instance in time he was in. Everything about the trice was intimate yet innocent; ethereal but utterly real all the same.

Just when the flow of time seemed to stop did the youth's stomach begin to rumble loud enough to make him flinch in embarrassment. It was the last thing he would have anticipated to ruin such a perfect but fragile moment in his life. Despite the dark-haired youth deeming it quite dreadful that such a thing had occurred, Aoko sounded as if she found it quite amusing. At first, she merely gave out a couple of measured giggles but soon broke into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. He on the other hand felt completely deflated by the turn of events.

Her arms loosened their grip around Kaito's torso and the boy unwillingly broke away from the embrace. She stood barely an arm's length in front of him, a hand wiping away what he could only presume to be tears brought about by laughing.

Even with the girl's reaction, the boy felt partly responsible for such an untimely interruption. He only saw it fit that an apology was due.

'Aoko, gomen. It's just that I haven't had breakfast yet and my—' His words were cut off by her index finger being pressed against his slightly chapped lips followed by words that reassured him that it was nothing and that everything was okay.

'You might now know this, Kaito, but you're funniest when you don't try to be at all,' she said as she removed her finger and proceeded to twiddle her thumbs as another blush made an appearance on her face.

'Really,' he asked, lightly scratching his cheek. 'I'll have to try to not try then.'

His stomach grumbled once more but this time, both he and Aoko laughed it off.

'Ne Aoko, would you care to join me for breakfast? I'm already getting scolded by my stomach. It thinks I'm famished.' He offered her his open hand, an eyebrow raised in a quizzical and playful manner. A crooked smile formed across his features.

'I'd love to,' she replied as she placed her hand in his.

* * *

Ekoda High School wasn't in any way prepared for the Kuroba Kaito that stepped onto its grounds. The adolescent had expected as much, judging by the way Aoko reacted earlier.

Having walked past the school's gates, the boy wouldn't deny the burning sensation in his cheeks as he walked alongside Aoko; their hands entwined. She had asked him about the idea during their walk on the way to school with such enthusiasm and earnestness that he didn't have the heart to refuse her proposition. This was the least he could do with all the lies and trickery he'd conjured to try and keep her from knowing his secret.

Making their way across the campus in the general direction of their homeroom, he couldn't help but notice fellow students—not to mention some of the nosier school staff—gawking at them with dumbfounded expressions. The dark-haired youth could still sense their gazes boring into him even when he and his childhood friend had gained a significant distance away from them.

As irony seemed to have it, becoming an average and typical Japanese male secondary school student garnered Kaito the attention he hadn't received ever since people had learned to ignore—or at least tolerate—his outrageous antics. Things only continued to worsen once they both entered room 2-B.

A hushed silence fell upon the entire class, stemming from what Kaito could only suspect as wary anticipation directed towards whatever non-existent prank the others thought he might be pulling. Ignoring this, Kaito took a vacant seat next to Aoko and busied himself in organising his scholastics material as a deliberate self-distraction from his surroundings.

The attempt had been working fine until some form of irrational worry urged him to turn his head to look at her in case she felt alienated by the irksome behaviour his classmates were blatantly displaying. It was such a relief to discover that his apprehension was unfounded; seeing that she was busily scribbling away in a notebook of hers, a smile—radiant as the sun—gracing her lips.

As if noticing that he was looking at her, she turned her head; her smile still untiringly held in place. A sudden warmness rushed into Kaito's cheeks and, at once, he felt much like the proverbial child who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Just as the dark-haired youth contemplated on the next action he should take, the heat in his left cheek abruptly morphed into a searing ache inflicted by what he could only have ascribed to mildly calloused fingers pinching his now tender flesh. He gave out a yelp which encompassed his surprise and pain. This prompted Aoko to jerk up from her seat with concern reflecting from her eyes. Luckily enough, the reactions from both adolescents thankfully caused his assailant to desist. Without sparing a moment, the boy's hand reflexively went straight to nurse his recent injury only to wince—his action exacerbating it further.

'It can't be—' said a strangled voice belonging to a person Kaito had to deal with on a daily basis in one way or another. Ironically, not an ounce of smarminess was currently present in his tone, just seemingly pure surprise.

'Hakuba-kun,' heard Aoko exclaim his name in what was a clearly an irate and reproachful manner.

'Hakuba? Why in the world did you do that for,' Kaito asked, voicing out his own confusion. He turned to face the other boy, his eyes making contact with the adolescent's brown depths.

Things didn't add up at all. Even if the blond tantei periodically displayed antagonistic behaviour towards him—mostly due to their job descriptions being on opposite sides of the law—it just wasn't like him to physically injure people. If anything, the worst case scenario would have been him trying to injure someone's ego through the quips he came up with.

'This doesn't make sense,' Hakuba said after breaking eye contact with Kaito to stare at nothing in particular.

'Hakuba, you're the one who isn't making any sense right now,' the dark-haired youth stated, his frustration materialising themselves between his furrowed brows.

'Fellow students have informed me that the Kuroba Kaito that took a step onto school grounds was acting quite weirdly. Based on what they said, the person was unnaturally subdued and there was unanimous agreement that he was holding Nakamori-san's hand in his own.' As it seemed, the half-British adolescent managed to force himself to face Kaito once more, his brows being mirror reflections of the reformed prankster.

'My action of pinching your cheek, though I may be asking your apologies for, served only to confirm the fact that you are not wearing a latex mask of any kind. Yet, betraying what the evidence is telling me, I still could not believe that you honestly are the Kuroba that I have known all this time if what the others have said are in fact true.'

Kaito had to close his eyes and shake his head in wry amusement at the predicament he'd gotten himself entrapped in. It had even come to the point where even Hakuba Saguru, out of all people, had begun to question the authenticity of his identity.

The brown-haired adolescent gave out his second defeated sigh that morning. He could sense that things were going to remain the way they were if he didn't provide some sort of adequate evidence to validate who he was.

'I guess I could only coax you to believe that I'm not an impostor by revealing one of the pranks that I've set up a few days ago, ne, Hakuba,' Kaito said with just the slightest bit of unhindered yearning present in his voice. The creases in his brows had vanished. An incremental smile softened his previously serious expression. He wanted Hakuba to believe him.

Even if it sounded crazy or absurd to anyone else apart from himself, he wanted the British tantei to be a friend of his. There was a part of him that wanted another soul to know of his secret. He wanted someone to be able to fully understand that his thievery was not some fruitless form of impulse brought about by kleptomania or a way of showing off and defying the law.

Though people might like to think of Kaitou Kid as a roguish figure unaffected by life, the person behind the pale outfit was merely a boy. He was human after all, and like everybody else, had limitations. He was nearly at his breaking point and there was nothing else he thought would have been more comforting than to have someone that would brace the storm alongside him knowing the entirety of his situation. If Kudo had found such a companion in Hattori, couldn't he find it as well?

_Even if things are the way as they are now, do you think we could ever be friends?_

'You just have to trust me on this one, Hakuba,' Kaito said abruptly enough that the fair-headed youth in front of him blinked several times before he managed to raise an eyebrow in response.

'Come on now. Would I trick you,' the boy asked.

'As a matter of fact, yes, you always play tricks at my expense,' Hakuba replied as he crossed his arms in front of his torso.

'All right, you've got a point,' the teenage magician conceded with a raise of his hands.

'But, not this time, Hakuba. I promise you that,' the adolescent said before pausing.

'All I want is for you trust me enough for me to prove who I am. Would that really be such a big favour for me to ask?'

There was a length of time before the other youth replied to Kaito's question and the adolescent thief could sense that the other boy was having still having second thoughts with the decision he had made. But taking all things into consideration, the fair-headed youth had all the right to be weary. Just the day prior, a puff of smoke—courtesy of Kaito himself—had turned the tantei's blond locks to an unnatural shade of blue.

'I might end up looking like a fool for this…but sure, I…choose to trust you Kuroba.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** All characters from Meitantei/Detective Conan and Magic Kaito are the intellectual properties of sir Gosho Aoyama.

**Author's Notes:** Let me tell you guys that I am sorry! I know you must be thinking that I've already given up on this work of fiction but I haven't. Either that or I'm dead. Sadly, I never really had a proper semester break as I had issues with my examination and I had to do my final exam (Anatomy) during the holidays.

I know people have commented about the 'discontinuity' or at least the anticipation built up in Chapter 1 which diminished in Chapter 2 due to the heist note and what not. I will reassure you that I have all the intention of building up the tension as the heist and Shinichi/Conan's appearance in the story will in the next chapter.

This chapter maybe considered a filler chapter due to less action going on compared to Chapter 1 but I believe I had to expound on and set up the relationships between Aoko and Kaito as well as Kaito and Saguru before delving deeper into the plot I had in mind.

(Please don't kill me for my love of exploring characters' psyches and mindsets!)

There is a change in point of view beginning in this chapter that will probably carry through half of Chapter 4 as I want to explore Kaito's personality from the eyes of someone else.

**PS:** I know this doesn't make up for the fact that I haven't updated in quite a while but the chapter is longer than my previous ones people (at least I think).

For those who have followed and waited patiently for this chapter, I hope you guys enjoy it. Your reviews and/or pm about the story are always appreciated.

* * *

Chapter 3

Heights coupled with the wind blowing against his face never failed to sooth and calm him down. It was perhaps the reason why Kaito had chosen one of his rooftop hideouts in Ekoda High as a place where he and the blond tantei would meet as soon as lunch break started. At least, he was hoping the other would come.

Having disarmed one of his more elaborate pranks hours earlier, the dark-haired youth had apparently managed to convince Hakuba that he was not an impostor. It probably dawned on the other boy that only Kaito would have been devious enough to even contemplate of placing a booby-trap inside his desk a few days in advance. Not only that, it was a contraption which had a timer on it set to go off just minutes before today's lunch break that would have left Hakuba with emerald green hair and a matching citrine coloured shirt.

Currently, the teenage thief was sitting by himself on the gym's sun-baked roof. His legs were held closely to his torso; his chin resting lightly on his knees. The elation brought about by the events that transpired that morning were slightly dampened by his growing apprehension. There was always the possibility of Hakuba not showing up.

Even after proving his identity, Kaito had noted glumly that the other youth's trust was tenuous at best. But, he _should've_ expected this. After all, Hakuba was truly convinced that he was the white cladded, monocle wearing, card-gun toting magician of a thief and the only thing keeping Kaito away from jail was hard evidence on Hakuba's part. He was on the wrong side of the law and the tantei upheld justice and lawfulness diligently and without respite.

The irony of it was Kaito would be confirming the other boy's suspicions with his very own words, a verbal statement and confession that could not only ruin any hopes of creating the friendship between them he so desperately wanted but place him in incarceration as well. And truthfully, Kaito was more concerned about potentially destroying any meagre trust the blond youth had left in him than any threat of being thrown inside a prison cell.

Just when he was about to lose all hope of the other adolescent from ever turning up, he heard a soft metallic clink of the rooftop hatch. Kaito's body tensed up momentarily only to relax upon hearing the voice of the British tantei. A relieved sigh—one that was thankfully concealed by a timely gust of wind—escaped his lips which soon curled into a wan but hopeful smile.

'Kuroba, you better have a good reason for asking me to meet you. I've had to search three other buildings within the campus before I happened upon your whereabouts,' Hakuba said. Judging by the other's choice of tone, he wasn't all too happy or pleased with the teenage magician.

In all honesty, Kaito was quite taken aback by Hakuba's annoyed reaction. No matter what prank, trick or jest he pulled, there was never a time that the other let a sliver of his emotion slide past anyone.

Now, it was becoming apparent to him that he wasn't the only one hiding behind a mask.

For what it's worth, perchance they may have more in common than what the dark-haired boy had originally thought. But, then again, he never really knew Hakuba more than his research had already unravelled. Likewise, the aforementioned person didn't know the true Kaito prior to the sets of misfortune finding their way into his life.

'Ano…Hakuba I thought I told you to meet me here. I…did, didn't I,' Kaito asked, not for the first time that day, with confusion.

Kaito didn't look back due to the bitter feeling building inside the pit of his gut. Instead, he merely kept staring off into the distance, uncharacteristically tucking his legs closer to his chest much like what he would have done in a childhood that now seemed all too distant to him.

'Actually, you merely told me to meet you at a rooftop within school grounds. Never did you actually specify which one was to be our meeting place of sorts,' was the other's reply.

'Sou ka? Must've slipped my mind. Go…gomen.'

'I…it's okay…I…er…I guess,' the other stuttered in reply.

'N…not that I'd l…let you off so easily the next t…time you do s…such a thing.'

_Odd. Hakuba _never_ stuttered in front of anyone including me._

Suddenly intrigued, Kaito quickly lifted his head to look back behind his shoulder and found himself staring at a wide-eyed and comically flustered looking Hakuba. The teenage magician had an initial urge to laugh at the other boy's reaction. However, he was able to overcome the emotion and gave an amused smile instead.

Not a moment later, Kaito returned to his former position, resting his chin once again against his knees. He patted the clay tiles beside him as a sort of invitation for the other to sit down next to him. It didn't take long for the blond student to make his way alongside Kaito and take a seat a foot or so away from him.

'Kuroba, would you kindly and clearly tell me what is going on? All of a sudden, you're acting all strange and I find that to be thoroughly disconcerting,' Hakuba said with what Kaito thought to be a hint of concern.

'You know Hakuba, for someone who is dead set in proving that I'm Kid, I've got this niggling feeling that you care somehow,' Kaito unintentionally mused his thoughts out loud enough for the other young man to hear him. It was already too late when he realised what he had said out into the open.

Guiltily Kaito flinched. Indigo depths met with warm browns; a lingering moment of hesitation and trepidation shared between both boys.

'I…er…Hakuba…I didn't mean to—' Kaito began before being cut off.

'Darn it Kuroba! O…of course I care, you git! It's in my nature to care for someone, a law abiding citizen or not. It's the reason I want to know a criminal's motive. To stop those set of circumstances from ever happening again to the best of my abilities. But…Kaitou Kid just had to and still remains a mystery to me. I could never comprehend what drives his actions. And while he gloats in his accomplishments—if you could call them that—I am stuck in contemplation on how to protect the baka from himself,' Hakuba blurted out in a single breath; taking a second to pause and catch much needed air.

All the while, those brown orbs never broke contact with Kaito's. Rather, their uncertainty was replaced with a determined resolve that the dark-haired youth only knew so well.

'Do you really think I could just stand here and allow him to run around and get himself killed with all the stunts he pulls off at every heist or knowing that there is a third party wanting his life extinguished? How do you think that makes me feel Kuroba,' The Brit placed shaking hand to his chest.

'How would you feel if the only plan you could come up with to protect someone was to put them behind bars—especially when you held that someone as your rival and the closest thing you had to a _f…friend,_' Hakuba said, his voice tapering down to a barely audible whisper.

It was then that the eye contact was broken and Kaito was left dumbstruck by the sudden revelation that had just unravelled before him.

'Hakuba…do you honestly believe Kaitou Kid would steal just for the heck of it,' Kaito asked after an uncomfortable amount of silence.

The moonlight magician lifted his gaze towards the sky, his eyes following the drifting clouds that were lazily making their way across the azure expanse above. It was odd, the way he and the tantei addressed Kaitou Kid as a different person but somehow, it was almost…fitting even.

'Yes! No. I…don't know anymore,' the other boy said, his tone successively changing from an outburst of anger to uncertainty in a span of a few seconds.

'If he has a reason, then it'd be bloody convenient if I knew what was going on instead of me helplessly feeling my way in the dark,' Hakuba huffed.

'That's why I asked you to meet me somewhere secluded,' Kaito began before giving out an apprehensive sigh, 'so I could tell you everything about Kaitou Kid hoping that you guys could meet each other halfway and reach an understanding of the full situation.'

Taking the curt nod that Hakuba gave as a sign that he was paying attention, the teenage magician asked, 'Hakuba, what do you know about my oyaji, Kuroba Toichi,' barely preventing himself from shedding tears.

'Your father?' the other teenager asked.

'What does Kuroba-san have to do with Kaitou—' Hakuba began to say before realisation hit him right between the eyes.

'_He_ was the original Kid,' the tantei almost exclaimed, managing at the last minute to lower his voice down to Kaito's relief. In exchange, Kaito gave a nod of his own.

'I don't know how he'd gotten himself into thievery but his hidden talents didn't become unnoticed to others who searched keenly enough. Just when he was about to give up the life of a thief, the people after his service used kaa-san and myself as their bargaining chip. We were safe as long as he helped _them_ search for what _they_ were looking for. When he wanted out, _they_ staged oyaji's death as accident.'

And as Hakuba began to ask questions about the past, Kaito in turn started to weave and lay out a great tapestry of tragedy belonging to the figure known as the International Criminal 1412, Kaitou Kid—the thief he never should've been.

* * *

Caring moulded who he was as a person, much more so than his close affinity to mysteries. It was the magnetic field that pointed his compass needle to true north; the very fuel that drove him to see through that justice was served and maintained.

But maybe, he cared a little _too_ much for his own good—even if his smarmy showmanship and aloofness appeared to prove otherwise.

With destiny seemingly trying to play a cruel joke and exploiting the irony for everything with which it was worth, Hakuba Saguru found himself walking alongside an internationally renowned thief and the daughter of a police inspector whose taskforce's sole purpose was to catch the aforementioned criminal.

But despite the situation he was currently in, the British youth never felt more comfortable—or accepted for that matter—in the presence of others until now.

Living through a life where he was ostracised by other children for being different—both appearance and behaviour-wise—had taught him to keep his emotions under wraps. In the place of the sheepish tow-headed boy who wanted nothing more than to gain friends emerged a young man who was aloof and full of smarmy showmanship. Eventually, Saguru had convinced himself that although he possessed no amicable relationships with others, people at least gave him a wide berth and consequentially stopped the harassment he had undergone as a child.

For roughly the past nine years of his life, it had been his routine to set aside who he was every morning and don on the cultivated image he had set up for himself. It was a feat he had long since perfected—never revealing his genuine feelings to anyone apart from his mother. As experience had taught him, if other people knew, there was always the chance that they would find him weak and ultimately not worth their time.

Then came along Kaitou Kid and the adolescent hidden behind the signature monocle and ivory suit who, out of all people, managed to break the barrier he had created to protect himself from others. He should've known that his remarkably embellished masquerade mask was already beginning to crumble when he decided to help the thief against Chat Noir. Instead, Saguru remained willingly oblivious to the fact up until this afternoon's conversation with Kuroba.

Maybe he should have seen it coming. Unlike everyone else who kept their distance, Kuroba Kaito never left the British tantei to his own devices. No, the bloke just happily invaded Saguru's privacy on a day to day basis as if he'd never heard of nor have known the concept of personal space. Adding to that were the other youth's pranks that either left his own hair one of the many shades comprising a rainbow or surprised him out of his wits.

In spite all of that, the constant interaction and challenge that the brown-haired boy presented had, in the end, renewed the fair-headed youth earnest longing for camaraderie.

'Hakuba-kun, is everything alright,' Saguru heard Nakamori-san say; causing his musings to come to an abrupt halt.

The boy shook his head, blinking a couple of times in order reorientate himself and straighten out his thoughts. He had unknowingly fallen behind the other two students in front of him.

'Alright? Oh, yes, quite! Gomenasai. I was just sort of lost in contemplation Nakamori-san,' he replied, allowing his lips to finally form a smile—not the generally condescending smirks he'd been using but a reassuring one. It felt strange—_no_, different but oh, _so right_—after having been used to fabricating ones every so often but there was that overwhelming sense of freedom that reminded Saguru that this was who he truly meant to be.

The blond youth quickly hurried his steps until he caught up with his classmates. On his way, something irked him all of a sudden. He mentally retraced his choice of words.

_Goodness Saguru, not just classmates—never again. Beginning today, Nakamori-san and Kuroba are no longer _just_ fellow students, they're your friends_, he thought to himself.

'You know what Hakuba-kun, you should smile more often. It suits you,' Nakamori-san said, bearing a smile of her own.

His eyes widened; a healthy blush spreading across the boy's cheeks due to embarrassment. No girl, or anyone for that matter, has ever commented about his physical appearance—much less so complimented his features—apart from his mum.

'Yeah, it makes you look less like a grumpy ojisan and more like your own age,' Kuroba interjected with a toothy grin.

As a force of habit, Saguru's mind whirred into forming a snide remark only for the tantei to quickly push it aside in favour of mentally berating himself. The other boy was probably trying to alleviate some of the discomfort he was feeling presently.

Perhaps it would do him good if he joined in the friendly banter seeing that he still needed a good comeback anyway.

'I'd take that as a twisted way of expressing your appreciation for my dashingly good looks then Kuroba,' Saguru said, unsure if his attempt at pulling a jest would be taken for what it is. The boy feigned a self-satisfied smirk only to realise a moment later the shocked expressions the others wore on their faces.

'Hakuba-kun—'

'Hakuba—'

'Aoko did he just—' Kaito asked. In response, the girl nodded almost slowly never taking her eyes of the blond.

'Oh dear.' The teenager inwardly cringed. _I must look like a narcissistic jerk right now._

'Nakamori-san, Kuroba, please don't take my previous statement seriously,' he added as his heart fluttered anxiously against his chest.

'It was specifically meant to be a jo—'

'Joke,' the couple said in almost perfect unison before looking at each other and bursting into fits of laughter.

Saguru blinked uncomprehendingly, eyes widening once more.

'We knew it was a joke Hakuba,' the high school magician finally said, wiping away a tear from his eye after managing to control his laughter.

'But the look on your face right now is priceless.' Another bout of chuckling came from the brown-haired boy. 'I'd take a picture but…I'm afraid you'll get back at me somehow.'

His gaze turned towards Nakamori-keibu's daughter.

'You were in it too, Nakamori-san,' Saguru asked his voice betraying his slightly dejected mood.

'Go…gomen Hakuba-kun. Aoko thinks the way you blink when you're flustered is really cute. Kaito always did that when he was a kid too,' she said, bowing her head apologetically.

_Cute_, the tantei wondered. Another blush began to creep across his cheeks, the warmness spreading all the way to his ears.

_Is this how being truly appreciated feels like?_

'Ahouko, I so didn't do that as a kid,' Kuroba said in protest; a glint mirth present in his eyes and the tone of his voice. Denial was met with insistence which ultimately led to a play-fight between the two.

Without a word of warning, the dark-haired boy began to sprint, saying that if Nakamori-san could catch him, he may in fact admit to what she was saying. She raced after him promising that she would win. Another smile crossed Saguru's lips as he shook his head at the amusing sight before he himself made a run for it; the gravity of knowing Kid's identity and the danger he and Kuroba were getting themselves entrenched in forgotten in the light of his newfound friendship.


End file.
